Australia's October new-car figures landed this morning, and the Toyota HiLux reclaimed the top of the charts for the first time this year. The market moved 107,493 vehicles for the month, up 6.8 per cent on October last year, and the year-to-date total has now passed one million at 1,065,191.
HiLux leads the month, diesel edges electric
The Toyota HiLux took the monthly crown on 5,954 sales, ahead of the Ford Ranger on 4,841 and the Toyota RAV4 on 4,718. Underneath the model table, diesel outsold electric for the first time in months, taking 23.9 per cent of the market (25,649 cars) to electric's 23.1 per cent (24,845), a gap of just 804 cars. Toyota led all brands on 20,649, while BYD was second overall on 10,025, its second month above 10,000.
Cartell Assessment
The HiLux win makes the headline, but read it as a monthly result, not a yearly one. The Ranger still leads the year by 129 cars with two months to run. The more telling number is BYD sitting second nationally. The ute and the diesel are clearly not finished, yet the Chinese brands are the ones reshaping the order.
AU Outlook
With the market already past a million for 2026, the HiLux and Ranger will trade the monthly lead again before December. Watch whether electric reclaims second place from diesel as end-of-year electric offers land.
